Archive for September, 2008

2Million Minutes: Documentary Film looks at how the American Education System is Preparing Students to Compete in a Global Society

Posted by Sheri on September 22nd, 2008 | No Comments »

Last week representatives from Drexel University were able to join ASEE for a brown bag luncheon seminar in which they discussed their outreach efforts to K-12 students and the global engineering community. When discussing their ENGR 280: Introduction to Global Engineering they mentioned briefly a film they show students in the class. The film, 2 Million Minuets is a documentary that follows 6 high school students, two in the United States, two in China and two in India through the two million minutes they spend in high school. The main intention of the film is to show how students in each society use this time to prepare themselves for the future. The resulting documentary depicts the American education system as “broken” and shows top American high school students as slackers in comparison to their global peers.

However, the portrayal of students in this film is stereotypical. The American honor student is a pretty blond who wants to join a sorority in college, while the Chinese student wears an over sized sweater and is shown diligently practicing violin. The students are not representative of all American, Chinese and Indian students in the world but rather examples carefully picked to make a point. Yet, even if the film had fewer extremes the message is clear, the American education system lets students off easy and as a result they are not as well prepared to compete with in a global society.

The video above is only a trailer (and as much as I dislike over-dramatized trailers) I could not find the whole length film online. The film is out on video and a DVD can be ordered on the 2 Million Minutes website.

Filed under Education, Global, Society


Video Games for Engineers

Posted by Sheri on September 16th, 2008 | No Comments »

Fantastic Contraption seems like a spin off of Phun, the software that allows the user to design and explore 2D multi-physics simulations. Like Phun it allows users to create machines that behave according to simulated laws of physics. Players create a machine and then test their creations to see how they might work in the real world. However, unlike Phun, Fantastic Contraption is more of a game where the ultimate goal is to build a machine that will transport itself into a “goal”.

What is neat about these new computer programs is that it provides players a chance to quickly and easily design and test their creations and to get a sense of how gravity and velocity might play into how a machine works. Best of all, both are described as slightly addicting.

Via Curious Cat: Phun Physics

Filed under Future


How To Measure the Speed of Light with a Chocolate Bar.

Posted by Sheri on September 11th, 2008 | No Comments »

If you’re trying to infuse snack making with physics’ lessons, this would be the way to do it. You can find the complete instructions and explaination via the instructables website. Or, let a 10 year old demonstrate.

Filed under Education


Man’s New Best Friend: The Robotic Dog

Posted by Dylan on September 10th, 2008 | No Comments »

Boston Dynamics, a Boston-based engineering company, has recently demonstrated its prototype of BigDog, a robotic dog. While it may remind some of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, it has many others excited at its potential uses. A Youtube video of its demonstration has generated over 6 million hits, as well as garnering mentions in such prestigious publications as Army Times.

Sponsored by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, BigDog is intended to carry up to 340 pounds of equipment, while keeping up with foot soldiers in a combat environment.

Its gasoline-powered, hydraulic propulsion system allows it to move at speeds as high as 4 mph, over rough terrain, and up steep slopes, assisted by its triple-jointed legs. In addition, the robot also features an on-board computer, which tracks its “vital statistics,” such as oil temperature, hydraulic pressure, and battery life, and report them back to its controller.

While current models’ abilities are limited by remote control from bases, future models are expected to be capable of making basic decisions pertaining to its movements.

Related: Engineering students compete to build a robo-mower – Underwater robot competition generating interest among students

Filed under Future, Innovation | Tags:


Down with Physics: Nerd core, the new counter-culture?

Posted by Sheri on September 8th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Kate McAlpine raps about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator designed to recreate the conditions of the universe after the big bang. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), created LHC with the hope that a peak of the early universe will be the beginning of really understanding it.

While LHC is helping physicists understand god’s particle, Kate’s rap video is helping the general public comprehend the LHC. She attributes her rapping style to “nerd core“, an underground version of hip-hop. Just the thing a physics teacher needs.

What a great way to transfer meaning about what to me is a complicated idea. It makes me think that this would be a great activity for students to do – explain a process as a rap, act it out and post it to YouTube. Share it with the world and help students everywhere gain understanding of concepts and enjoy it at the same time.

Thanks to Kate and the LHC, being a nerd is cool (again)! Hurry up and get your nerd core t-shirt, while supplies last!

Filed under Society


Hurricane Proof Roofs

Posted by Dylan on September 5th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

photo of hurricane proof roof testingphoto from The University of Western Ontario Engineering Department

As some scientists predict that hurricanes will grow stronger and more frequent over the next century, Greg Kopp, a researcher and civil engineering professor at the University of Western Ontario, is engineering a way to lessen their destructive impacts. Oftentimes, during a hurricane, the roof of the house is the first part of the house to fail. Their project, dubbed “Three Little Pigs”, aims to discover what is responsible for this, and to engineer a solution. To conduct their research, engineers constructed a steel hanger, containing a full scale house and pressure boxes capable of simulating the wind and turbulence effects of up to a Category 5 hurricane.

Preliminary tests yielded some unexpected results, such as the location of the roof’s initial failure. “The thing that surprised us most is [that] it failed on the leeward side of the house. We had all expected it to fail on the windward side first,” said Kopp, in an interview with CNN Now that they better understand the behavior of the house under stress, researchers will continue their project, focusing in on smaller details, and on how to prevent future failures.

Filed under Research | Tags: ,


The PlayPump System

Posted by Sheri on September 2nd, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Perhaps you noticed that a merry-go-round spins like a motor, except instead of electricity, children provide the torque needed to make it turn. However, unlike a regular motor (which often operate at peak efficiencies of about 20-30%), the merry-go-round is 100% inefficient (in a mechanical sense). Why not harness the power the merry-go-round produces? After all, it’s as close to a free, renewable and waste free energy source as you can get.

Engineers realized this untapped energy source by creating The PlayPump, a simple machine powered by kids at play. The Playpump propels water up from under ground into a water storage system that then provides the children’s community access to clean water. Sustained access to clean drinking water creates a ripple effect that can potentially lead to improvements in other areas of the community, like education, health care and economic development.

* A child dies every 15 seconds from diseases related to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
* 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water.
* 40 billion hours each year are spent collecting water in sub-Saharan Africa, equal to over 19 million full-time employees.
* Every $1 invested in water yields an economic return worth $8 in saved time, increased productivity and reduced healthcare costs. (UNDP)
* In many areas of sub-Saharan Africa women and girls often walk an average of five miles to the nearest water source every day. If a woman only had to carry water for one hour a day, she could earn an additional US $100 a year.

Related: via Curious Cat: Water and Electricity for All, Engineering a Better World, Engineers Without Borders

Filed under Global, Innovation | Tags: , ,


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